ARLINGTON - Huddled
under a table near Jodi Ryan's feet, Sky waits patiently for her owner's
next move. And when Ryan, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, scoots her
chair back, it's time for Sky to work.

Sky, a harlequin
Great Dane, quickly stands at Ryan's side, brushing against her leg to
keep Ryan upright and ready to act on her command.

"Go, wait, go," Ryan
says as they walk. When it's time to use the stairs, she commands "One
... one" for each step they climb.

Unlike the typical
guide dog that accompanies a blind person, Sky is a service dog who, through
a 21Ú2-year relationship, has learned to take care of Ryan.

Now Ryan and Sky
are teaching others about service dogs and the laws that protect them.

Ryan, who spends
many hours at City Hall as a member of the Citizens Budget Review Committee,
has come to learn how people react to the trained animals and is out to
inform the public about disabled people and service dogs.

"The more people
I can educate, the less problems I'm going to have," she said.

It is a continuing
battle. "I've been in the restaurants and taxicabs where I've been told
I couldn't bring Sky," Ryan said.

Ryan is a member
of the Assistance Dogs of Texas, an organization that helps train canines
for disabled people.

She and Sky volunteer
at the Southwest Airlines training facility at Dallas Love Field, teaching
flight attendants what to expect from disabled people with service dogs.

"We teach attendants
how to treat the dog and what to expect," Ryan said. "If I was to fall
out, she's going to stay by my side."

Kathy J. Pettit,
a flight attendant trainer with Southwest, said airlines are beginning
to see more service animals on board, and flight attendants should know
how to respond.

"It's our responsibility
to make sure our disabled customers are as comfortable as we can make it
for them," Pettit said.

"Flight attendants
learn service dogs are well-trained and they don't have behavior issues.
The dogs are not going to run down the aisles licking on passengers' faces."

During a recent training
session, Ryan backed Sky into a row of airline seats, and slowly the 100-pound
Sky folded up under the seat in front.

"The flight attendants
are amazed that she can fit under the seat," Ryan said.

Pettit said Southwest
prohibits non-service animals on planes, but under federal law, carriers
must allow service dogs with appropriate identification. Southwest will
make accommodations for nearby passengers allergic to animals.

Ryan has had multiple
sclerosis since the 1960s, but it wasn't until 1980 that the disease was
diagnosed. Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the central
nervous system in which hardening of tissue occurs throughout the brain
or spinal cord.

"I would reach for
a glass and miss it, or I would be walking and bump into a wall for an
unknown reason," Ryan said. "Doctors just kept telling me that it was nervousness."

Ryan refused to accept
that. Through persistence she found a doctor in Fort Worth who diagnosed
multiple sclerosis, a disease that sometimes limits her to a wheelchair.

One day, while reading
the Multiple Sclerosis Monthly newsletter, she read an article about a
woman who had a dog that picked up items she dropped.

"I called around
for a dog but found out it could be up to a seven-year wait for one," Ryan
said.

She took matters
into her own hands and went searching in the newspaper.

"I had been told
that when I went searching for the puppy that if it does not come to me
then I shouldn't take it because we wouldn't bond together," Ryan said.
"At one particular litter, there were three puppies, and one ran to me
and jumped into my lap, so she was marked as mine from the beginning."

Ryan named that puppy
after its sky-blue eyes and began training Sky basic obedience skills.

Several months later
she met Cindy Roberts of Ovilla, who helped with the training, particularly
for service in public places.

"Being around the
different noises in public places is too stressful for typical family pets,"
Roberts said. "Service dogs have been trained not to be distracted."

Ryan said that with
Sky's help she is able to live as close to an unrestricted life as possible.

"She has become more
than a pet that helps me," Ryan said. "She knows when I get tired and need
to sit down. If there isn't a seat around, she'll back me against a wall
so I can rest.

"When you're not
feeling good and [you're] alone, it's scary. It feels good just knowing
she's at my side."